Second School Year Opens at Salem’s Music Center

On Saturday February 19 we visited the Salem Music Center. We were accompanied by three professionals – Fuad, a music teacher from Tel Aviv-Yaffa, Ram – principal of Tel Aviv’s art high school, and Ruti – head of that school’s music department.

Comments

To answer this I suggest you contact Mr. Ishtayyeh, the Center’s director: jubier10@gmail.com.

As to myself as a private person and the Villages Group webmaster, I pray every day and night for the downfall of the Occupation dictatorship and for the emergence of a truly free and democratic Israel-Palestine (1 state, 2 states, 7 states, no matter). The recent events in Egypt have greatly increased my hopes.

I believe that actions like the those of the Villages Group serve to empower Palestinians and connect them with the outside world, rather than accommodate the Occupation as some people might argue.

What you do is really important to bring communities closer.. I’m a European and we Europeans spend a lot of money so that the Palestinian Authority builds its own state.
It should include things like provinding water or electricity to the Arabs of the West bank.
Yet from what i see in your blog, I just dont understand why they do not care about their own people!
They cant argue they dont have enough money (compared to what happens in other countries in africa e.g.)
Keep going ! I think Arab people should appreciate !

I think you do not understand the reality on the ground in Israel-Palestine at all.

The true sovereign in the West Bank is the State of Israel. The Palestinian Authority has extremely limited powers. For example, a PA official cannot even travel between parts of the West Bank – let alone outside the West Bank – without Israeli approval. Unfortunately, after the Oslo Process was derailed 10 years ago the titles and images of an “Authority” and “negotiations” have been used to create a false facade of equivalence. In truth, the Israeli Occupation regime has continued and even deepened in many senses since 1967.

There are a lot of flaws in the PA. However, the main flaw is that a truly functioning self-government cannot exist under a foreign Occupation, especially when it is being actively used as a facade to hide that Occupation.

We in the Villages Group certainly do not wish neither to supplant the PA, nor to paint a prettier face to the Occupation. We recognize the present political situation as immoral and corrupt to the core, but try to work within its practical constraints to create nuclei for a different future. This revolves mostly around helping populations robbed, victimized and traumatized by 44 years of Occupation (and 15 years of crippled, inept regional “autonomy”), by partnering with and strengthening local self-empowerment.

[…] The Ground Reports » Dear Friends, The last months saw the development of connections between the Music Center that opened about a year ago in the village of Salem, near Nablus, and several people from the […]